On the Art of Gate Appreciation

Morning Thoughts #147

Empathy without sufficient creativity is mostly just unintentional selfishness. A world governed by the ever-pitying becomes pitiable. Pity without self-respect or standards degrades en masse. Generations born in the wake of society-wide commercialization demand, with righteous activism, tag-lines in all their purity! What are they demanding? Literal branding.

Few actions cause more harm than the literal interpretation of that which was never meant to be taken literally. True wisdom lies in understanding context, acknowledging that some expressions need to be articulated rather than enacted, and recognizing that certain ideas work best through their dormancy. Their purpose is to inspire an offshoot, not a model imitation, and to serve as ornate gates to be admired but not entered.

The naive insist upon promises only formally made when, as always, it’s only on-the-ground reality that counts for anything. Paid advertisements are not reliable primary source material, an urgent truth that somebody better tell tomorrow’s (so-called) historians and quickly.